Anathema
by Aliathe
Summary: n which Hinata is not a very good witch, or rather, isn't bad enough to be a witch, and has a chronic problem of not being able to say 'no'. [Magic!AU]


**Summary:**

 _In which Hinata is not a very good witch, or rather, she's not bad enough to be a witch. Somehow, this leads to her getting entangled into a Queste, and trying to unravel the Curses of the people she meets. There are times when she wishes she isn't so darn nice. This counts, quite firmly, as one of them._

 **Disclaimer:**

 _I don't own Naruto._

* * *

Hinata, of the Hyuuga Coven, had a problem.

It wasn't… a _big_ problem, so to say.

Unless, well, you were Hinata herself.

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The Hyuuga Coven was one of the most respected and largest Covens in Erif.

In all of the Elemental Realms, really.

They were even named as one of the Noble Covens.

(Alongside their sworn enemies, the Uchiha Coven.)

Famous for their Bloodline Gift, the Byakugan, and famed as renown witches, particularly for their tendency to specialize as seers, and their distinctive Jyuuken spellcasting style.

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Everyone had an innate Blessing, of course, and an innate Curse to balance things out; from birth, you had one of each, and those usually determined your course for life.

They were things like: charisma, spare-change-magnet, longevity, added-potency-to-jinxes, unluckiness, never-be-able-to-drink-alcohol, pessimism, appropriately-slapstick-humor-will-occur-at-the-most-inconvenient-times.

Things like that.

Additional Blessings and Curses could be laid on, either through casting or through artifacts.

Anybody was capable of casting a Blessing or a Curse if taught, though removing them was also often a simple matter, provided you had sufficient power and know-how, or knew someone _else_ who had sufficient power and know-how.

At most, one extra Blessing and one extra Curse can exist at a time, for a total of two of each.

Which meant, of course, if you already had two Blessings (one innate, one extra), you couldn't get another, and if you already had two Curses, you couldn't get another.

Some people purposely wore artifacts or clothes Cursed with a minor Curse, in order to prevent being Cursed with a more severe one.

They almost always had time limits, and would wear off naturally unless renewed.

(Unless, of course, you were strong enough to circumvent such bothersome irritations.

Individuals as powerful as that, however, rarely actually cast any Blessings or Curses, believing that everyone would be better off making their way up the ladder through their own efforts, or believing in such nonsense such as 'the greater good'.

Well, either they were like that, or they were the villains.

Or they were the ones trying to track down and _beat_ the villains…

[Studies have shown that levels of eccentricity increase accordingly to levels of magic increasing.

That explains a lot.])

Bloodline Gifts were different enough from Blessings and Curses to allow for them to not count towards either, though they were passed down through a mix of magic and genetics, making it impossible for someone to steal a Bloodline Gift, and there was only one Bloodline Gift 99% of the time.

The other 1% resulted in outrageously powerful beings like Mei Terumi, the Ruler of Retaw.

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Specialization and Classing are two different labels, although very similar, and sometimes not bothered to make hte distinction.

Specialization is harder to describe in definite terms: it's what you're best at, or have decided to try and _be_ the best at.

Classing is far easier to define: it's your 'job', what you _do_ , what people recognize you as, and so on.

You could be classed as a witch, but specialize in healing.

You could be classed as a healer, but specialize in combat.

A knight that specializes in armor-forging, a cook that specializes in drink-mixing, a reporter that specializes in locks, etc., are not uncommon.

(I wouldn't trust the last example if I were you; nor would I buy from a butcher specializing in surgery...)

It's… not a very good system, but it's one that's creaked by over the years, and even as 'progress' occurs, there are certain traditions not easily gotten rid of.

Neither has anything to do with Species, which is unduly complicated, and made overly so by the carefully politically correct attitude of the modern EleRe.

Nobody quite knows where the first tengu, demons, kami, vampires, mermaids, sprites, elves, dragons, etc. came from.

If you know what's good for you, you either don't ask, or you make certain to be very discreet and delicate in your asking.

Somewhere along the line, through the process of some space-time funkiness before reality in EleRe more-or-less stabilized itself, these fleshy strange beings called 'humans' came into existence and procreated with the Others that were prone to fits of curiosity.

General consensus is: when someone doesn't choose to tell you exactly what their ancestry was, hope they don't kill you and leave it at that.

After a few generations, Other 'blood' thins out and weakens, eventually not having any effect.

⅛ is considered the amount of 'blood' needed for some effect to manifest, otherwise it is considered 'trace' and basically useless for anything but the faint possibility of your children inheriting recessive 'blood' that shows especially strong.

Which means, theoretically, one could inherit effects from 8 different Others, or maybe 7 different Others and some human 'blood', because human 'blood' was essentially the neutralizing factor, for some reason.

For some reason that the _Campaign Involving Sensitivity And No Bias About Genetics_ ( **CISANBAG** ) has forbidden research into, to be accurate.

Just because someone's got troll blood, and someone's got dwarf blood, and someone's got kelpie blood doesn't mean you can justify discrimination in employment.

Being human doesn't lower or elevate your status, except in the eyes of the extremists, who will be arrested/killed quietly very soon anyway.

(No, being human just means you're much easier to snap into two, although of course a human can still learn magic if they wish, and of course there are many safeguards and laws and policies about undue slaughter, and a few safeguards and laws and policies about due slaughter as well.)

The point is, while discrimination is definitely extremely illegal, you can't help natural prejudices and suspicions and general bad blood (pun not intended, if that even counts as a pun) from forming by themselves.

It all boils down to the fact that some people ('people' used as the term for both Others and humans) are proud of their ancestry, and some aren't, and that's okay.

.

.

.

… Unless, again, you were Hinata of the Hyuuga Coven.

See, the Hyuuga descended from some major kami, some divine dragons, some celestial prophets, and some angels who didn't adhere very strictly to the whole 'eternal virgins' shtick.

They aren't necessarily…

Well, they fall into the category of those who studiously avoid the 'ancestry' topic, electing to focus on the here and now, specifically, the here and now of them striving to be the 'top dog' of the witching profession.

If they so happen to have uncannily attractive family members, then that's just good genetics, as in 'not-celestial-blood' genetics.

Totally.

Except… every generation, there's always at least _one_ Hyuuga who's a bit too gifted, a bit too pretty, a bit too pumped up of recessive genes, and maybe from a hushed-up affair that most-definitely-no-one-talks-about.

They fit in after a while, though, or at least, they try very hard to fit in and eventually manage to succeed.

There's the occasional black (white?) sheep, which just can't be helped, but for the most part they leave peaceably by themselves.

The problem with Hinata was that she had the fortune (misfortune, in her case) of being born to the current Coven Head.

 _First_ born, which was even more auspicious and damning.

She was born, quite literally, to be a witch and a leader.

… Barring the fact that _she was_ _ **so**_ _not born to be a witch_ _ **or**_ _a leader._

Hinata had no talent whatsoever for the Jyuuken spellcasting style of the Hyuuga, her success with the Byakugan was mediocre, her seer ability was unreliable even for the notoriously finicky future-sight, and her innate Curse was timidity.

(Her innate Blessing being politeness.

In her less generous, more brave moments, often moments stolen in especially bitter or depressing circumstances, Hinata resentfully wished she had a different Blessing, one that could nullify her timidness more thoroughly.

Unfortunately, it was rather a rude though to voice aloud, and anyway, she wouldn't have the courage to speak up about it and risk being seen as ungrateful.

Ingrained timidness does not push oneself to take many risks, if _any_.)

But she'd practiced and became acceptably proficient in Jyuuken through hard work, more exercise with the Byakugan achieved similar results, seer skills often settled and improved with time and experience, and timidity only increased her logic and aversion to reckless trouble, which was a good thing, right?

(Passive-aggressiveness had also, very carefully, been cultivated through years of miserable, crippling shyness, that had literally froze her with fear at the slightest hint of a possible confrontation.

She lived to avoid conflict, which was basically the foundation of passive-aggressiveness, meaning that she'd already been halfway there.)

.

.

.

So, really, none of that was the _true_ problem.

The _true_ problem was that she was _way too nice_.

(Also, many suspected, a throwback to their kinder angel ancestors, who had been overall saintly beings despite a desire to fornicate, which wouldn't actually be a bad thing if it weren't for some people giving their interpretations of what angels should exemplify.

Whoever first popularized the Seven Virtues and Seven Sins greatly irked the angels.

They want their ice-cream and romancing and procrastinating and flattery too, y'know.)

Witches weren't supposed to be nice, or do anything out of the goodness of their heart, or _have_ any goodness in their heart.

They were supposed to be careful, suspicious, selfish, miserly, and solely dedicated towards their own benefit and self-preservation.

That was the upside of dealing with witches; you never had to worry about their motives or their 'siding', because even if you can't trust anything about a witch, you can still trust that a witch is always on their own side, and can be counted upon to help you so long as you can pay up.

It provided a certain measure of security and peace-of-mind to know that witches had _reputation_ when you hire them.

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As a Coven, a _Clan_ (because a 'Clan' denotes a Coven excluding non-family) who were born from mostly severe, stern, stiff, dignified, and extremely _proper_ individuals, they were naturally severe, stern, stiff, dignified, and extremely _proper_ individuals as well.

In other words, gorgeous and skilled like you wouldn't believe, but _so incredibly awkward_ in the socializing aspect that it's been a series of minor miracles they've managed to reproduce at all.

In _Others'_ words (and humans, too; equal representation rights, 'n all that), stuck-up snooty cold-fish prudes with a collective stick up their collective, ahem, well, y'know.

Meanwhile, there was Hinata.

Hinata, with her father Hiashi and her mother Hisoka and her so-much-more-talented sister Hanabi and her so-much-more-talented cousin Neji and her uncle Hizashi and her aunt Hikari (who died in childbirth).

(We could go on for ages listing exactly how she was related to everyone in the Hyuuga Coven, including second-cousin-once-removed Hideko and fourth-uncle-in-law-twice-removed Hiro and even her eighth-niece-fifteen-times-removed Haruhi who had a habit of cross-dressing very successfully as Haruki, pending a legal application to change hir gender to 'genderfluid'..

Literally.

E-v-e-r-y-o-n-e.)

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Hiashi, who was regal and commanding and had _presence_ ; he could talk that talk, he sure walked that walk, and he was a greatly respected Coven Head constantly maintaining a Compound (which was more like a small independant village) of over two hundred witches.

Hisoka, who was a master healer in her own right and delighted in passing down her knowledge to her eager firstborn; known as a serene, stately lady, unflappable in any manner, she was always seen as infallibly courtly, as the perfect hostess and the perfect housewife and the perfect politician.

Hanabi, who was strong and skilled and confident; everything Hinata _wasn't_ , Hanabi was, including a rather arrogant sense of entitlement and a blunt-bordering-rude way of stating her words.

Neji, who was a prodigy, a genius, a natural at Jyuuken; one of the rare Hyuuga not named starting with 'H', he was cordial to her, but significantly cooler in warmth than from their shared childhood, some measure of quiet resentment shifting in his eyes towards her being the heiress instead of him being the heir.

(His complex-of-sorts was only encouraged by his father, who quietly resented his twin as well.

As a result, Neji threw himself into his studies of scrying and other seer skills, subscribing to the belief of fate and destiny with an almost religious fervor.

[Many people were religious in EleRe, especially since many people have met or personally know a kami/demon.])

Hizashi, who was supposedly just as good as if not better than Hiashi at Jyuuken and magic in general; neutral enough to interact regularly with his brother, his loyalty to the Hyuuga was unquestioned, although there was always a slight edge to his voice when, as a Coven Court member, they discussed the line of ascension for the next Coven Head.

(The fact that Neji would probably inherit his spot as a Court member didn't placate him, as the Coven Head automatically qualifies as a Court member.)

Even Hikari, who died before Hinata was born, was occasionally brought up in mention when comparing the heiress-apparent to her close family; a sorceress who married into the Coven, specializing in mass-effect spellcasting, who was fierce in life and silent in death, as a result of an untimely thunderstorm on the day of her birthing.

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(If it wasn't for Coven rules, _magic_ rules, Hanabi would definitely be instated as the heiress-apparent, in Hinata's opinion.

She quite longed for that, actually, since it would remove much of the burden and expectation heaped upon herself.

It was just a matter of admitting that her little-sister of younger-by-three-years was overwhelmingly more naturally attuned to the Jyuuken spellcasting style, which was easy to do, because it would be difficult to disparage Hinata as not humble.

Spellcasting styles could be non-foci styles, which usually include physical action, and casting spells with your body, or they could be foci-centered styles, which usually have the user staying relatively still, and casting spells with foci.

There were also a few spellcasting styles that used foci but had elements of non-foci styles included, but they were harder to learn, and for the most part, you would start out with a purely non-foci or a purely foci-included style, and slowly incorporate bits and pieces of useful styles into your own personal style as you gained experience.

Jyuuken was a purely non-foci spellcasting style; the user expelled magic in certain 'tenketsu' spots, which would temporarily seal off the magic flow in that area of their opponents' body.

Luckily, the Jyuuken style didn't require any particular magical affinity, although it _did_ come easier to some than others, so enough hours put into it eventually yielded her the same results, just… slower, and not as efficient.

At best, she was considered average in Jyuuken, but even an average Jyuuken-user was moderately well-off against your average non-Jyuuken opponents.)

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Then there's Hinata, softspoken, gentle, trembling Hinata, who tries so hard and clenches her teeth cringingly when she fails, who smiles too much, cries too much, _emotes_ too much for the bewildered Coven to cope with, who goes stark-white when the merest hint of animosity is raised, who used to faint at every challenge to spar.

It says something, that when any other Hyuuga would walk uncaringly past a broken-winged bird, except perhaps to consider snagging it to add to the larders, Hinata would be the bleeding-heart wallflower who immediately starts worrying and fretting over how to save it, in all likeliness mourning it's passing and digging a grave.

Some would consider that bleeding-heart wallflower-ness to be a weakness.

That 'some' would count for every other Hyuuga.

They didn't _hate_ her, of course, or even _dislike_ her, since it's very hard to dislike an adorable baby-faced puppy-eyed small-smiled girl who looks so hopeful and easily-frightened.

(Her mother once commented, in private, that she was the epitome of 'moe'.

Hinata asked what that meant, with her head tilted to the side and her pudgy fingers touching together and her tiny child toes shuffling unsurely.

Hisoka unceremoniously squealed and glomped her, before quickly resuming her serene appearance.

… She never did answer that question.)

Well, that, and if you end up disliking her anyway (despite the difficulty of such a task), then one watery wobble of her sad, droopy, drowned-kitten dejected look will instantaneously send the disliker into crushing guilt coupled with the death glares from any witnesses to the infamous drowned-kitten look.

Case in point: if an outsider could've seen the proud and haughty Hyuuga _apologizing_ to a little 7-year-old, seeming so uncomfortable as they forced out the unfamiliar words, the outsider would've choked from their heaving laughter.

Or, if they were more discreet/entrepreneurial, they'd snap a bunch of pictures and amass a fortune in selling them to political rivals for blackmail.

So, it wasn't so much _dislike_ as it was _embarrassment_ , like dealing with that strange relative you have to live with but have no idea how to handle.

A wren among raptors.

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But the Coven law can't be changed, even if the entire Coven wishes it, because after carrying out certain rites for many generations, magical ambiance settles as residue, reinforcing the witchy law.

Meaning, the firstborn of the Coven Head will succeed the Coven Head as the next Coven Head, unless they die before succession; however, if a Coven member kills them to change the succession, then the killer will die from magical backlash, and all ritual attempts to affirm the next Coven Head will be denied, thus leaving the Coven unable to have a magically bound Coven Head for that generation.

Magic's half-sentience is very simple: follow the rules, or obey the consequences.

(When a Coven Head is magically bound, their 'Head' status will show up on any magical searches, and an increase in magical power and reserves occurs.)

The next generation will have to select a Coven Head amongst themselves, either through whatever tests they propose, or through an uncomplicated vote.

Every Coven Head has their Coven-specific rituals they undertake, and while generally the heir-apparent/heiress-apparent is accepted without fuss, there _have_ been a few isolated cases of the Coven magic rejecting them.

It all boils down to the Hyuuga Coven being stuck with Hinata as their heiress-apparent and next Coven Head.

Something had to be done.

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This called for a plan.

And a Coven Convene, of course, in order to plan the plan.

After several days (because although nights were the traditional Convene time, the rumor of witches being more powerful at night is a myth unless they were night-aligned; the Hyuuga, their name meaning 'towards the sun', were quite obviously sun-aligned, thus leading to such habits such as being early birds and preferring to sleep instead of squabble when it got dark [and yes, Convenes are usually just the Court squabbling]), a plan was thus concocted.

(Not, um, 'concocted' as in potions and all that; they left potion-brewing up to the Akimichi and the public, and occasionally Hisoka when she got bored of treating sparse minor wounds and sharp major wounds.)

It was a simple plan, since the Court had learned through many centuries of experience that the more complicated something was, the more likely it was to completely derail everyone's expectations.

(Although, that didn't exactly stop them from continuing to perform complicated feats in order to impress upon the residents of EleRe the superiority of the Hyuuga.

Also, to spite the Uchiha, which was a very honorable and noble goal in their opinion, worthy of the highest effort.

 _Damn demon copy-cat bastards_.)

They would send Hinata out on a journey.

Journeys were practically a rite of passage for anyone, no matter their class or specialization.

As the purpose of a journey was to gain experience, learn new things, refine skills, and better understand the world they live in, it perfectly suited the Hyuuga's goal of toughening up their meek future-leader.

Who knows?

She might even find a _Queste_.

Well, that was a bit fanciful to think of, but a father can dream, can't they?

(Disregarding the facts that Hinata _lived_ for peace and no confrontations, and a messy, dangerous, illogical Queste critical to the fate of EleRe was basically her nightmare.)

Hiashi duly informed his firstborn about the Court's decision, explaining that she had three days to pack and prepare, that she was obliged to keep in contact with the Coven, that her journey had a minimum requirement of 2 years, and that of course she could still access the Coven's outside resources if she needed to.

Hinata very studiously avoided his eyes, kept a vigilant silence for fear of letting slip a fearful squeak of terror, and would've been tempted to protest if she hadn't known that a., she'd probably freeze up and stammer unintelligibly, b., she didn't have the nerve to go against her father and Coven, c., it was going to happen anyway, and d., the journey was really the kindest way her Coven knew how to help her with.

So she nodded in assent at the correct intervals, manages to squeeze out a clear, "yes, father," and escaped to her mother who always knew what to do.

.

.

.

Hisoka listened attentively to Hinata's rendition of what had happened, glad to hear that her daughter only stumbled over a _few_ words.

It was pleasing to know that she'd made this much progress with her so far, although she was _still_ the only one her daughter could speak to with such clarity, even if Hinata and Hanabi got along second-best.

She knew about the delivered verdict already, her status as the Coven Head's spouse granting her a viewing position in the Court, but it was always nice to listen to her shy flesh-and-blood talk.

In her firm opinion, because Hisoka was a person who never had weak opinions, Hinata could do with more talking.

Hopefully, this journey would cure her of a bit of that.

"And then you came to me for… help? Guidance? Advice?" she queried patiently, patience being something you needed to understand the skittish fluffy creature that was Hinata.

'Sounds like a kitten,' Hisoka thought, 'or a baby bird, or a bunny; those are just balls of fur held together with cuteness.'

"All three, I suppose," her daughter answered uncertainly, wringing her hands, stressed. "I don't really know, I just didn't know what to do, and then, and then, and then I just came to you?"

Her trying-to-be-steady voice rose up at the end, converting the statement into a wobbly question.

Glancing at the 16-year-old heiress-apparent, Hisoka marveled, and not for the first time, how curious it was that her firstborn looked so similar to her, yet somehow didn't inherit any of the coldness of her father, or even the imperturbability of herself.

All for the better, she assumed; Hinata wouldn't be Hinata if she suddenly lost all of her nervousness and niceness, and besides, she had Hanabi to tease when she tired of cooing over Hinata.

Stitching put down, the bottles of herbs she was sewing on put aside, Hisoka reached forward and clasped together Hinata's hands.

"Let's take it slowly. Use that reasoning I know you have. Go over the facts first."

"Um… I'm supposed to go on a journey that has to last at least two years before I can return-"

"Wrong. You _are_ going a journey. Definitive."

"I _am_ going a journey, to… improve myself?"

"Statements, not questions. These are facts, Hina-chan."

"I am going on a journey to improve myself."

"How are you going to improve yourself?"

"Tra- I mean, to improve myself, I am going to train… and study… and learn from… those I meet."

"Good to know you have an idea of sorts."

"I have three days to pack, I may access the Coven's outside resources if need be, and I must keep in contact," Hinata dutifully recited, reassured somewhat by the anchor provided for her concentration.

"That's all the facts, then. I suggest you try to avoid using the Coven's help as much as possible; it reflects badly on your capability to journey. Two check-ins each week should suffice for keeping in contact; use your crystal ball. I'll see about procuring a linked message scroll for you, too."

Hinata perked up fractionally at the prospect of her mother helping her pack, only a _little_ worried about what she might slip into her backpack.

Her mother had a habit of testing her for her reactions, and was overly fond of springing things onto others without prior warning.

(She lived by the creed, "ask for forgiveness, not permission. Better yet, don't ask for forgiveness, just give them instructions and don't stop long enough for them to retaliate.")

.

.

.

Three days later, packed and prepped and prepared (with the copious assistance of her mother, who had a suspiciously large reserve of empty storage scrolls and who had suspiciously good knowledge of who and what and where would have the necessary supplies), Hinata stands quietly at the gates, a party of well-wishers accompanying her for the traditional send-off, murmuring trite lines until they ran out of things to say.

('Trite' as in 'Hyuuga trite', which is drastically different from 'regular trite'.

Hisoka: "Adorable fluffy little daughter o' mine, remember, speak statements, not questions. Unless you need to a question, in which case, ask away. Also, a good life tip is that if you run out of money or food or just need help, feel free to tear up as much as you want."

Hiashi: "Do not disappoint the Hyuuga, or reflect badly upon the Hyuuga name, daughter. If you chance upon an Uchiha, do not forget that we are sworn enemies, and you must display our superiority over those demon trash."

Hanabi: "Don't die, I guess. And stop being such a _doormat_ all the time, jeesh! N-Not like I _care_ or anything, it'd just make me heiress, and I don't wanna be the one to deal with the stuffy old geezers in the Court, Nee-chan!"

Neji: "Farewell.")

Hisoka pipes up again, though, just as Hinata was mentally psyching herself up to take the first step outside of the Coven, hands tucked primly into her sleeves.

"Oh, I have a goodbye gift for you, Hina-chan. Doubtless you will pick up several companions and meet many people along your journey, but until that happens, the first stretch will be quite lonely by yourself. So I got you something to keep you company. It rhymes with mat. Any guesses?"

"A- a cat?" Hinata ventures with cautious hope of a nice, normal, thoroughly unexciting pet.

"Of course not; it should be a bat, to symbolize the Hyuuga vision!" Hanabi scorns with assurance, looking like she didn't really care, but wanted to be right, anyway.

(Her arsenal of Looks is very versatile and varied, although admittedly slightly less so than Hiashi's selection of Glares, and Hisoka's gallery of Gazes.)

"Gnat," Neji mutters sourly off to the side, after an expectant glance from his aunt, clearly just wanting a

Hisoka turns her eyes onto her husband next, with the brightness and don't-you-dare-ruin-this-for-me aura she usually achieved when in the middle of something she has a vested interest in.

Hiashi, slightly discomfited and worried about _what_ exactly his lovely darling wife had acquired for Hinata, mentally runs over all the recent receipts he could remember signing as he says, "... platypus?"

It is evident to everyone gathered for the send-off at the gates (which consists of the aforementioned 5; Hizashi declined to join) that only the first syllable of 'platypus' rhymes with 'mat', but as he is the Coven Head, and so obviously the awkwardest of them all, they wisely keep silent.

A pause occurs, as they all dart furtive looks at each other, until Hisoka takes it upon herself to stop stalling things.

"A rat," she smiles, waiting for their reactions.

Another pause occurs, longer this time.

"Aa… um, th-thank you, mother?" Hinata unsurely replies, rising into question-form again, wondering if she should be upset her mother is going to give her a rat as a gift, or if she should be grateful her mother got her a goodbye gift at all.

In hindsight, she ponders, she really ought not to have been surprised by these happenings.

Her mother takes a liking to trying her best in never becoming 'bland and conventional', and also to pose as many odd situations to her mousy firstborn as possible, so perhaps it's meant as a pun on 'mousy'?

… Hinata gives up on puzzling out how her serene, sly mother thinks.

Sighing and shaking her head at their lackluster, blank reactions, Hisoka withdrew her hands from her grand silken robe-sleeves, revealing a kitten-size rat that fitted neatly in her cradling palms, placidly watching them with keenly intelligent eyes, still and unmoving save for it's vibrating whiskers.

"Rats are quite smart," she chides them, "and can fit into places that you can't. EleRe has a thriving animal care industry, as you should well know, and as a side-effect of that industry, animal training and breeding has been judiciously refined over the past decades. Animal companions are common now, many of them specially bred to be stronger, faster, live longer, more clever, and to understand our language. The top tier of animal companions are classed as…?"

"Summons," Hanabi fills in, used to her mother incorporating lessons into her everyday speech.

"Correct. Summons are the ones that can usually speak our language, read and write it, and, considered to be the most important trait, they, too, can learn magic. So this is no _normal_ rat, you all can stop looking so unimpressed. This is-"

"A _summon_ , and you'd better believe it," a low, rough voice grates out, in a distinctly masculine tone.

Their eyes swivel automatically to watch the rat, now leaning back on his haunches and nonchalantly smoothing his gray-black fur with his long tail, paying meticulous attention to the milky patches scattered across his body.

Hisoka _beams_ , dumps her handful into her daughter's hands without warning, pushes them outside the gates, and closes them very firmly shut, a last snippet of 'good luck and have fun' escaping the metal wall.

.

.

.

Well.

That just happened.

"I-It is very nice to meet you, Summon-san," Hinata stutters out, her politeness tempering her timidness as she performs the first piece of common courtesy: the initial greeting. "M-May I have your name? A-As it seems that w-we will be traveling together for the n-next two years?"

The rat makes a strange 'chuffing' sound, which seems to be his version of an amused huff.

Flinty, dark eyes, lacking any 'whites', examine her cautiously.

Elbow-length hair, blue-black under the tree-dappled sunlight, blind-appearing pearly eyes with a touch of heliotrope, pale lips pursed and nibbled with chronic fretting, slender build draped over in a long black 'witch' cloak, carrying a light backpack probably stuffed with storage scrolls and embossed with as many security runes the rich Coven could fit in, and delicate features arranged in what would be a vaguely pretty way if she looked more cheerful and smiled more.

Eh.

What the hell.

She'll do.

She's polite, at any rate, and will definitely need his help.

(Plus, the one holding him in her sleeves earlier _did_ get a hold of his contract, so it's not like he has much choice, if she decides to transfer the contract over to her daughter, ordering him to accompany her and serve her as her summon.)

"Name's Zetsu. Feed me and listen, and we'll get along just _smashingly_."

He fancies his sarcasm is not exactly subtle, but she doesn't seem to change expression, so assumedly it flew over her metaphorical head on metaphorical wings.

With a graceful leap that he most definitely did not spend hours practicing, Zetsu lands on his new summoner's left shoulder, taking a brief, scrabbling moment to adjust his bulk accordingly.

"Right," he says, repeating with more gusto, "right. You're Hinata, I heard that much in that not-very-well-ventilated sleeve. Going on a journey, eh? Well, I suppose I could deign to grace you with my gorgeous, charismatic presence along your way. Aiming for any _Questing_ , hmm? Don't worry 'bout a thing, see these fangs and this tail and these claws? I can take care of any morons tryin' ta mug _us_ , I sure can.

"Where to first? The Gninthgil Mountains, to save hikers and vanquish beasts? The Gauntlet Tests, to show off our strength to the world? Maybe Htrae, to see the magical caves of ancient times? Perhaps Dniw, to trek across the deserts with none but ourselves to rely on in the terrifying circumstances of bare survival? What's it gonna be? What's your first step towards your _destiny?_ "

"I-I was actually pl-planning to explore Erif a b-bit. It's wh-where I grew up, b-but I don't r-really know anything about a-anywhere except m-my Coven's land. T-The closest town is F-Fael, s-so I was going to g-go there first? U-Um, unless you'd l-like to go somewhere e-else, Zetsu-san?" she explains apologetically, twisting her fingers in anxiousness.

Shrugging, the sleek summon settles a little more securely, hooking his claws into the thin fabric of her cloak (a requirement for journeying witches, so as to provide easy identification; there was no point in being a witch if no one knew you were a witch) and turning minutely to make eye-contact.

"Fael works, too," he complies, gruffly adding, "and stop looking so damn _scared_ and obedient. You're gonna be chewed up by the outside, kid. Also, it makes me feel bad about bullying you to get what I want, got it?"

".. Y-Yes?"

"Answer with confidence or don't answer at all! I _said_ , _got it?_ " Zetsu barks, sergeant-style, full of authority and pure guts.

(What else was inside of a rat other than guts? _Duh._

Um.

Other than blood and muscle and fat and stuff, of course.)

"Yes!" she squealed, jumping with startlement.

"Now let's march on! C'mon, one-two-one-two-one-two-"

They continue down the road that way, hard-packed dirt underfoot soon giving way to hard-packed dirt with leaves underfoot, Zetsu commandingly roaring off a reel of numbers and Hinata meekly going along out of the 'non-confrontational' part of her timidity Curse, the summon occasionally adding in a random number like '92' jsut to see how she would react.

Good time was made that day, mostly because the people of EleRe hadn't quite figured out how to make time _bad_ yet.

* * *

 _ **#**_

 _ **#**_

 _ **In which Hinata is too nice (also cries and stutters and smiles and laughs and blushes too much) for the (stone-faced severeness of a very severe thing) Hyuuga-**_

 _ **Hisoka is pure sadistic deviousness under those smiles-**_

 _ **Hanabi is bratty and totally a tsundere for her sister-**_

 _ **Hiashi is more socially awkward than a sea cucumber-**_

 _ **Neji is angsty and not-interested-in-this-**_

 _ **and Hizashi gets no lines. Boo. :[**_

 _ **Yay for Magic!AUs.**_

 _ **Chakra = Magic**_

 _ **Tid-bit: Two-years was the Coven's minimum verdict, because you reach magical majority at 18; a.k.a., it's when your magic fully stabilizes and stops growing so fast, so in order to take the rites legalizing you as a Coven Heir/Heiress, you have to be at least 18. Or you run a high risk of your magic destabilizing and killing you from a magical backlash.**_

 _ **Also, a rat, because while I wanted to give Hinata a fluffy lil' yandere kitty of her own, that seemed too overused.**_

 _ **Unless you want to give her a cat? I'm interested in what you think.**_

 _ **I could always write in a cat and a bat along the way…**_

 _ **But for now, she's a witch and a rat (and no broomstick).**_

 _ **Really, at heart, Hinata wants to be a Healer or a Druid or a Animal Enthraller or something.**_

 _ **Sadly, this will not happen, because of Coven stuff, and because it's more amusing to have a witch who tries her best to be good while witches are supposed to be bad.**_

 _ **Or, at least, not do anything without something in it for them.**_

… _**Again, too nice for the Hyuuga.**_

 _ **Oh, well, that's what Zetsu's for.**_

 _ **(Also, his characterization is totally 'off' from canon!Zetsu, but everyone's characterization will be slightly 'off', as it is an AU. A very light one, too.)**_

 _ **Should I make him the 'black Zetsu', and have her bump into a 'white Zetsu' later on, or should he just conveniently be a rudely blunt black-and-white rat named Zetsu, and Hinata will still meet a rudely blunt black-and-white person named Zetsu along her journey?**_

 _ **The answer?**_

 _ **Review in.**_

 _ **#**_

 _ **#**_

 _ **You read the last line, didn't you?**_

 _ **Review review review review review unview review review yay-view review review review review preview review review reviewing reviewer's reviews.**_


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